


An Apocalypse Nearly Caused by a Swords Four

by Void_Home



Category: The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords
Genre: Other
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2017-04-24
Packaged: 2018-09-01 08:54:42
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8617732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Void_Home/pseuds/Void_Home
Summary: Something came from above Zora's Domain. Far in the frozen north that few dared venture into, something was uncovered. What it did was ruin Hyrule.Now, Three must venture north to stop it and save the place they call home.





	1. Awakening

**Author's Note:**

> This is based loosely on a RP I participated in years ago and I wanted to rewrite it.

Awakening

 

It was dark. It’d been dark for as long as he could recall. The memories from before he was in the dark were faded and blurry. Not that they mattered much, the past was in the past, he didn’t need to remember. As time passed though, he could recall things here and there. His name, his purpose. His friends. That he’d died. He was awake though, so his status was hard to tell. Zombie, maybe? Or more? Zombies were supposed to be mindless. He was still capable of thought and emotions.. An annoyed sigh fled him as his fingers examined the walls of his prison. Of his own tomb. He shouldn’t be capable of doing this.  
The others were alive like him-not alive, but not dead. Undead. Were they like Redeads?- if the groaning was anything to go by, maybe. Close but not just beside each others own tomb. Faintly, he wondered if they would get out? It was for the best that they didn’t, but it could not be helped. They all were exceptionally good at managing their ways out of unlikely situations. Vio found he didn’t mind too much with how long he’d been in there alone.  
Maybe if he put all his weight into it? He didn’t get tired, like, at all. Not in the normal sense, at least. He would get tired of staying still in this box, this tomb, but he really didn’t get tired in the sense of sleeping. It was odd, but also a subtle reminder of what he’d become. Vio reared back as far as he could before slamming himself into the surface. A crunch echoes from the act, but it’s hard to tell if it’s his bones, or the door giving way. He can see a sliver of light from the dent he’d created, and a swell of pride entered him. He was closer to getting out with every try! But the act of slamming himself into it rattled his bones so he decided to cycle between scratching and slamming the door.  
“It’s amazing, Jerry! Everything is so well preserved compared to most everything else from that era!” Had he dozed? Who was out there?  
“Yes it is Bren. But almost everything talks about.. The four who came from one? What does that even mean?” Another voice outside and Vio can only wonder who it was, why were they there?  
But, furthermore, he can only wonder one thing. Why is it so quiet now? Why are the others silent? It didn’t occur to him until then, in the absence of speech from the voices, that it was quiet. No banging, no scratching.  
“What the fu-” They didn’t get to finish as a scream tore through the place, their own. Vio found himself slamming into the doorway in a panic as further screams echoed out.  
Crash. Vio’s eyes are introduced to light and the choking smell of blood. He can feel his mouth water in hunger at the smell, but shoves that gross feeling aside as he stumbles to his feet, registering the sight of Red- was that his name? Yes, they’d decided names after their tunic colors, he remembered that- hunched over his lucky kill, tearing at the flesh with hands and teeth. He should feel sick over that sight but he can’t bring himself to feel like that, just a gnawing hunger as he passes the blood and kill and scattered implements of some kind. They were far beyond anything he’d ever seen. But he couldn’t dwell on it, he was following the screaming and vague groaning.  
With practiced ease that he can barely recall, Vio swings the old bow from his back and nocks an arrow as he skids into the room. It takes but a second to fire, the arrow digging into the cheek of Blue- Or was that green?- and giving the archeologists time to heft the door open. He shouldn’t let them go, he could see they were bitten, but Vio didn’t think about that. He sprung forward, wincing as echoes of pain raced up one leg, and slammed himself into the door to force it shut after the last survivor escaped. He leaned there, panting heavily as he stared back at the rotting figures of his friends. Blue had been the one he shot, he could see that now. He wasn’t happy, this much was obvious. Blue surged forward to punch him but stopped, turning as another scream came from the room they’d begun in, reminding both of them that there was still a meal they could eat, the lucky catch that Red had made. That, and the clear fact that others had been trapped inside.  
Blue growled a bit, turning his head to glare at Vio one last time and utter one word riddled with growls. “Prick.” And then he was off, Green in tow. Green was a lot quieter than Blue, but that probably had to do with the fact the front of his throat was torn straight out, Vio figured. A lack of vocal chords tended to do that to you. He waits a few seconds before sitting down, legs crossed and bow over the top.  
He’d started to calm down when Red peered in, blood dripping from his mouth. Vio’s eyes narrow a bit as Red stumbles toward him, although unlike the other two, he wasn’t doing so in a hostile manner. Red was more curious than anything over why his friend was just sitting there. Vio hesitantly pats Red’s knee, which results in the boy sitting down and smiling slightly at him. It’s kind of cute, once you get past all the blood and the bits of flesh still hanging from his mouth.  
He was kind of hungry, now that he was staring some food in the face… No. That was wrong, he would not resort to eating someone. He might be a zombie, but he wouldn’t eat someone, despite how good it would probably make him feel. “Shouldn’t you… Be with the others?” Vio asked softly, head tilting as he relaxes. Red wasn’t going to try and force his way past, Vio knew that, somehow.  
“Want to stay with you.” Was Red’s slow reply, lilting and unsteady in pace, but understandable. He seemed content to sit there after that, which let him keep an eye on at least one of the monsters that his friends had become.


	2. Spreads like Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Watch the eyes.  
> Beware the bite

It hurts so bad. That was the first thing Bren thought about. That, and how cold it was as she ran. It was frozen up here, snowing heavily and harshly like it had been when they arrived. Without her jacket and other winter gear, the biting cold was so much worse and did little to help her injury. Injury? Oh, the bite into her arm. The bite from that weird redead from the temple. She just sustained that, how could she forget? Shock, probably. Just like how others were stumbling off the path from the temple, straying from the light poles stuck into the ground and away into the snow. She doubted she would see them again. Her though? Bren knew where she was going.

Down. Back to Zora’s domain. Somewhere she can get help, she hoped. She couldn’t remember how far it was, but she hoped she could get there. No, she knew she could. She just didn’t know how long it would take. She did however know that she needed to stem the blood flow from her arm or else she’d die before she could get back, and with that thought she wobbled to a side, tearing at the medical kit part of her bag to get some bandages out. She huddled there feverishly digging out some disinfectant to ensure she didn’t get sick and quickly applying it before wrapping her arm. A few of the other researchers and archeologists rushed past, screaming and sobbing in pain, and Bren couldn’t help but feel bad for them. For herself.  _ This is all my fault, I was the one who wanted to check out some old wives tale. Now we’re all hurt and probably going to die. _ That thought raced through her as she shakily pulled her jacket out of the bag. She at least had enough sense to put that in her bag, but not her gloves. Unfortunate, but she couldn’t help it. It would keep her warm, and less likely to die on her way there.

It helped, she found as the water splashed around her feet, movements sluggish. Bren sniffled a bit as she wiped her nose, only to freeze as a weapon was pointed at her. “W-What? Is-- Is something wrong?” She asked anxiously,  head tilting and sneezing shortly after. She felt so tired, so so tired. She didn’t quite hear what the zora said though, as her body failed.

The last thing she saw was water, an instant before she met it. The splash echoed in her ears. She hoped she wasn’t dying, that would be bad.

Bren came to to pain. Her arm felt like it was on fire and she couldn’t help the pained hiss that escaped her as she rolled to her side to stare at it. The bandages had been removed, and the skin around it was deep black, and her hand was almost entirely black. But that was normal. Her heritage gave her skin blotches, but seeing it almost all the way up her arm surprised her. Was it trying to protect her? She didn’t know. It was an oddly comforting thought though, and she turned her attention to look around the bed she was curled up on. She recognized the shape of a Zora tending to another patient not too far from her, and almost immediately she could tell that she was probably in the best shape here. The hylian the Zora was tending to had blood oozing freely from his mouth and his eyes looked so wild.

His eyes? Wait, there was something odd about his eyes… It was clear why in seconds as the man launched up, hands scratching at the poor medic and teeth digging into whatever it could reach. Bren could hear other screams behind her, at other beds as more zoras were met with unfortunate injuries. What took her notice though were some stumbling out of the medical hall, looking for help, or, perhaps, food. Both options presented problems, she knew as she slid her feet around to rest on the cold and just slightly moist floor. A shuddering breath escaped her as she hopped off and crossed the room to shove the hylian down quickly. His eyes were so odd. They had a ring of red around the pupil for some reason. Quite distinct.

Bren catalogued that away for a later time, holding him down and avoiding wildly snapping jaws while the doctor Zora administered a sedative to knock out the frantic man. As he relaxed and fell into sleep Bren let go of him and turned to the doctor with worry in her eyes, gathering some bandages off the cart beside them for the zora. As she helps them tend to their wounds Bren notes that the Zora’s eyes are changing. Gaining a red ring like the man. “Are you.. Feeling okay miss?” Bren asked with worry, tying off the bandage and checking for any other bites.

The answer was no, and that answer followed out through Hyrule as the bitten took it by storm. Their only warning was to watch eyes for red and avoid being bitten. It didn’t end well.


	3. Home Bound

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A stranger arrives as they settle for dinner.  
> Everyone hates him.  
> He has a request.

 

This illness, disease, curse. It made his chest burn just thinking about it. They were like him, but a lot less aware of what was going on and what they were doing. For months they had spread across Hyrule, cropping up in every major and minor town that they could find their way to. Ketral almost found it sad, that they were so desperate to feed, to exist. But, he surmised as he wrenched a star out of the skull of one, he was no better beyond his capability for thought and his amount of control over urges.

He often wondered how these spawned, given that he’d been the only one for so long. The report a sheikah had brought one morning, frantic and unsure had been their only warning against the beasts. The poor scout had stumbled in blabbering about eyes and the undead, hand clamped over his leg. He hadn’t lasted the night, having to be put down before he hurt anyone else. He’d been buried hastily, since with the dawn, the rest of the beasts arrived. His resting place had been marked, of course. When this was all over the scout would get a proper burial, but that was undoubtedly ages from now. The undead showed no sign of stopping.

Even now, months later, it seemed like there were only more bodies piling up outside the walls, both moving and not. Ketral leapt up to one of the beams above the fighting, a few follow him with their eyes as he hunches there, staring down as the few Sheikah handle the undead. His shift was coming to an end, and he needed to get home to check on his charge. “Can you hold them back?” Ketral asks over the din of fighting, to which several affirmatives echo out.

Just like that, Ketral’s gone, bouncing out the window onto the roof and along the tilted surface at a quick pace. He swings over the edge, thoughts racing as he drops to a lower roof and continues his path. No one was sure just where they’d come from, honestly. Some said they came from the forest-What had previously been known as Kokiri Forest a couple centuries ago…- while some said they came from the sea.. Yet the Zoras insisted they came from the north above them.

Where a research group had gone. Few had come back, and they claimed those that did? They were the first zombies. Elial’s friend’s sister had been there, renting one of the apartments that the zora had opened when the population boomed. He wondered how they were doing? Hopefully well. His thoughts go back to the research group. Around 30 individuals who had followed one… Bren Hestrii, if he recalled correctly. She’d found something about an old tomb up in the north, far above Zora’s domain. That was something Ketral had been surprised to hear, that someone else had found information about the Tomb of the Four. With centuries that had been forgot to myth, and as the land changed, so too did the history of the country. The old lands were forgotten. Snowpeak had lost it’s name ages ago, beyond scattered records deep in the archives, and the Sheikah’s collective records of the past. Few even knew the icy land beyond Zora’s Domain even had a name, nor did it not even count as part of the domain.

Four had been entombed there eons before even he had come to exist as he does now. Beyond their existence, not much was known. The sheikah tribes in Snowpeak would know more, likely. He should send letter and ask. They could know more.

Later though, later. His body swings downward and he’s stalking along  the castle’s walls, looking at the piles of undead lurking outside. It was hard to travel now, but he bet that it would be nearly impossible to travel given a few more months, with how many dead there were roaming the fields. Ketral shakes his head a bit and scans the area carefully picking out a spot he could land in before launching off and coming to a running landing, springing around a herd of undead with ease. They were so slow, but with enough of them you could easily get overwhelmed.

The way to Kakariko has changed, with the zombies. The sheikah took back over protection, once again making it a well hidden village that was hard to find if you weren’t looking for it. On one side, great protection. The other? Hard to find if you don’t know where to look. He did though, and getting there was as easy as usual for him, getting stopped at the gate by a guard. He rolls his eyes as the guard jokingly goes “Oh, your eyes are entirely red… _Clearly_ you’re infected... “ In response to the eye check. This always happened, a running joke in the Sheikah community as red eyes were a common color. Reds, golds, Oranges.. Any unusual color was far more common than the common colors of other races. An odd occurrence, but not that out there.

“Yeah yeah yeah. Your eyes are red too, buddy. Guess we both need to stay out here, hmm?” Ketral remarks with a raised eyebrow, gesturing toward the gate then back outward toward the field. They share a laugh before entering the town, being greeted by the sound of kids playing.

Kakariko was as lively as ever. Kids played, people conversed, and shops were run. It was almost easy to forget that one wrong move could result in death. An infected could slip in and they’d die. They tried not to think about it. He passes a few market stalls, trading for a few rare candy objects. Always a treat when you spot them in the market. Ketral continues on his way, unwrapping one and popping it into his mouth with a hum. They were good, sweet as chocolate usually was, but better. He tosses the wrapper into his bag while turning down a corner, passing the guard captain's house which seemed empty as it’s occupants were outside lounging in the sun.

He had no opinion on the dragon boy, Hacey. Beyond him being Elial’s friend and coming by sometimes, he hardly interacted with the dragon. Ketral was pretty sure that the boy had a crush on Elial though, with how he seemed so fond of her compared to anyone else. There had been his interest in Saria, but that had gone pretty easily, he’d grown more interested in his charge when she’d come to stay with him those years ago. That had been a dark time indeed.. Poor lass had been abused, her ears torn into a smaller, rounder shape, her skin marked with both aged scars and fresh wounds.. Hacey had wanted to help since he met her, and help he did, Elial was almost rehabilitated by now. She still had her moments of relapse, but she didn’t need someone watching them constantly.

Hacey looks up from where he’s sunning himself, the rare occasion that he’s not wearing his robes apparent as his scales shimmer. “Hey mister Ketral!” He calls out, waving at the Sheikah with a smile. Ketral waves back at the boy and manages a smile to the boy before continuing on his way. They lived just on the outskirts of town, where it was easier for Elial to handle things, not that he minded too much, kept prying eyes away.

The lights inside are on. Elial’s home from class already, it seems. Ketral walks inside, shutting the door softly behind him. He shucks his top off and folds it as he walks through the house, noting that it smells nice, some kind of meat. It would appear Elial was also cooking dinner, he assumed she’d picked stuff up at the market herself since he hadn’t had anything to eat left out for her. “Elial, I’m home.” He says as he pokes into the kitchen, head tilting a bit to look over to the stove, spotting the blue haired girl beside it checking a book as she cooked. Her head pops up at his voice and she smiles brightly toward him, waving a hand.

“Hey Ketral, I picked up some stuff at the market, so dinner’s on me.” She informs, gesturing at the pan with a slice of meat in it, cooking away. Ketral could spot a pan of veggies being fried just beside it too, and he smiled a bit at the sight. When they’d first found her, the girl could barely function, now she was capable of cooking and doing so much all on her own. It was endearing.

“How’re your classes Elial? Getting everything alright?” Ketral asks as he leans over her to look at what she’d been reading. An engineering book, something he couldn’t recall on her class listings. Seems she’d gotten interested in something they’d passed over in class. That was good, hobbies were good. Ketral steps back and sets his top on the dining table, eyeing the newspaper resting on the surface too.

“Yeah, we went over something in class and I got interested in clockwork stuff. Mechanical things. Apparently those were big things in this distant place.. Uh… Termina! So I picked up a book…” Elial replies while setting the book down and turning the meat over. It’d been a nice topic and had drawn her interest right away. She had thought about getting into that sort of thing since it came easy to her, but she was still young, they could find something else she could be interested in.

“Oh! I left a newspaper out for you, Ketral. It’s about the outbreak. I dunno how reliable it is, but figured you could take a look at it.” Elial says idly, looking back at him and pointing at the newspaper he’d already started looking at earlier. It spoke of the forest that used to house the Kokiri ages ago, now home to nothing beyond sad trees and forest creatures bearing masks. But that didn’t make sense, didn’t add up to what he’d gathered.

“It’s wrong. They couldn’t have come from there.” Ketral says almost immediately. His hand gestured vaguely, likely making sense to him as he continues. “The path of takeover would be completely different! Honestly, all things lead to it coming from the direction of the Zoras…”

 

“Correct, Ketral.”

That voice. They both freeze, turning ever so slowly to look toward the other side of the table at a familiar face. A familiar, very hated face. Solieyuu. The man was lounging at the table, tying his long hair back idly while watching them turn. Ketral’s nails dig into the paper he’s holding, power roiling at the sight of that  _ monster _ . The floor jostles a bit before settling reluctantly beneath them all.

Elial scrunches her nose a bit and puts a hand out, waving it to get them to stop glaring at each other. Unfortunately that got them to stare at her instead. The girl shrinks back a bit, stunted ears folding back nervously. “Uh.. Don’t.. Don’t fight you guys. Um… why uh.. Are you here, Solieyuu?” She asks hesitantly, wringing her hands before reaching back to  turn the stove off to prevent any fires.

As she plates the food Soleiyu finishes tying and nods a bit, smirking. “Of course, Elial.”

  
  
  


“I have a job for you two.”

**Author's Note:**

> This is based loosely on a RP I participated in years ago and I wanted to rewrite it.


End file.
